The field of network security has become increasingly important in today's society. The Internet has enabled interconnection of different computer networks all over the world. The ability to effectively protect and maintain stable computers and systems, however, presents a significant obstacle for component manufacturers, system designers, and network operators. This obstacle is made even more complicated due to the continually-evolving array of tactics exploited by malicious operators. Of particular concern more recently are botnets, which may be used for a wide variety of malicious purposes. Once a malicious software program file (e.g., a bot) has infected a host computer, a malicious operator may issue commands from a “command and control server” to control the bot. Bots can be instructed to perform any number of malicious actions such as, for example, sending out spam or malicious emails from the host computer, stealing sensitive information from a business or individual associated with the host computer, propagating the botnet to other host computers, and/or assisting with distributed denial of service attacks. In addition, the malicious operator can sell or otherwise give access to the botnets to other malicious operators through the command and control servers, thereby escalating the exploitation of the host computers. Consequently, botnets provide a powerful way for malicious operators to access other computers and to manipulate those computers for any number of malicious purposes. Security professionals need to develop innovative tools to combat such tactics that allow malicious operators to exploit computers.